BitGo to Provide Custody for Crypto Assets Under Bitstamp Management

Digital asset financial services firm BitGo will provide secure storage for crypto assets under management at major cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp. $100 million insurance policy In a press release on Oct. 9, the Luxembourg-based cryptocurrency exchange announced that BitGo will offer custodianship of its digital assets. The Bitcoin (BTC) exchange will start transferring assets to BitGo’s wallets on Oct. 10, 2019. Bitstamp CTO, David Osojnik, said: “BitGo has been one of our most trusted partners for many years and this is a natural extension of our relationship. Their exclusive focus on…

US SEC Rejects Bitwise Bitcoin ETF Proposal

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rejected a proposal to list a Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF). In an announcement on Oct. 9, the Commission stated that the ETF filing from Bitwise Asset Management and NYSE Arca did not meet the necessary requirements.  Specifically, regulators stated that the applicants did not meet the necessary requirements regarding possible market manipulation and illicit activities. The SEC wrote: “Rather, theCommission is disapproving this proposed rule change because, as discussed below, NYSE Arcahas not met its burden under the Exchange Act and the…

Bitcoin Price Rallies to Touch $8,600 While Altcoins Follow

Wednesday, Oct. 9 — Bitcoin (BTC) continues its rebound, jumping $400 in a few hours, while altcoins rally in sync with BTC. Cryptocurrency market daily overview. Source: Coin360 The world’s most popular crypto coin rallied from an intraday low of around $8,200 up to its current trading price near $8,600, showing impressive gains of over 5% in the past 24 hours, while a vast majority of the top 100 crypto coins are pumping in sync with BTC and are recording major double-digit gains.  Bitcoin seven-day price chart. Source: Coin360 Ether…

Blockchain Among Highest-Paying Industries in Canada

A recent report from the Canadian Digital Chamber of Commerce shows that salaries in the Canadian blockchain industry are amongst the highest in the country. Much needed legal clarity The Chamber of Digital Commerce Canada released its October report on the country’s blockchain ecosystem, showing insights into the health of the industry, current strengths and legal needs throughout Canada. The report collected data from more than 150 participants coming from the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries, Canada’s government and academia. The study was conducted by the Blockchain Research Institute (BRI) with…

Bitmain Announces Two New ASIC Cryptocurrency Mining Rigs

Leading Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) producer Bitmain announced two new series 17 Bitcoin (BTC) mining machines in a blog post published on Oct. 9. Bitmain: higher efficiency and hashrate Bitmain co-founder Jihan Wu announced the S17+ and T17+ mining machines at the World Digital Mining Summit (WDMS) in Frankfurt. Bitmain claims that the new ASICs feature improvements to power efficiency and hashrate. The post states that the new hardware is capable of performing tens of trillions of hashes per second (TH/s): “The Antminer S17+ has a hash rate of…

Price Analysis 09/10: BTC, ETH, XRP, BCH, LTC, EOS, BNB, BSV, XLM, TRX

Bitcoin and select altcoins are showing signs of bottoming out. Can they start a new uptrend? Let’s study the charts. Grayscale director of sales and business development Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary said that institutional interest in the crypto space has been strong throughout this year. The second quarter inflow was $85 million with 80% coming from institutions. Though this is positive, it shows that the inflow is only a trickle and a fraction of the firepower the institutions hold.  A Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) can also boost interest in the asset…

Blockchain to Lead in Payments and Asset Tokenization

Almost 23% of Digital Currency Group (DCG)’s portfolio firms believe that asset tokenization will be the next major use case for blockchain. To prepare the survey, DCG received responses from more than 60 of its portfolio companies.  According to DCG’s 2019 annual survey, 22.73% of its portfolio companies suggest that blockchain will be mainly deployed in asset tokenization, while 30% of respondents see the technology’s future use cases in payments. Other use cases and “public enemies” The aforementioned industry sectors are followed by digital identity and ownership, decentralized marketplaces and…

Binance Starts Accepting Fiat Currencies Through Alipay and WeChat

Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance has begun accepting fiat currencies through online payment service Alipay and mobile messaging and payment app WeChat, CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) confirmed in a tweet on Oct. 9. Zhao was quick to clarify that, while it is accepting fiat through the aforementioned services, it is not working directly with WeChat or Alipay. Zhao noted that users are still able to use them for peer-to-peer transactions.  The move follows the implementation of Binance’s peer-to-peer trading for Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and Tether (USDT) against the Chinese yuan…

Unwrapping the Ocean Plastic Conundrum Via Blockchain

In September, Cointelegraph reported on a Dutch company said to have created the world’s first collection of recycled fabrics made from ocean plastics and whose provenance can be traced via blockchain.The premise is that socially minded consumers want assurance that they are really wearing recycled materials fished out from oceans and coastal areas.  The firm, Waste2Wear, deserves applause, but it is unlikely to make a dent in the world’s plastic problem.  The problem is volume. More than 8 million tons of plastic ends up in the planet’s oceans every year.…

Zuckerberg to Testify Before Congress Regarding Libra Stablecoin

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify before the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee on Oct. 23 regarding the firm’s proposed Libra stablecoin project. On Oct. 9, Congresswoman Maxine Waters officially announced that Zuckerberg will attend a congressional hearing entitled “An Examination of Facebook and Its Impact on the Financial Services and Housing Sectors.” Libra and Calibra moratorium The announcement notes that Waters and other Democrats on the commitee sent a letter to Facebook in July, requesting an immediate moratorium on the implementation of proposed cryptocurrency Libra and digital wallet Calibra. The…